The Clifton Record (Clifton, Tex.), Vol. 109, No. 11, Ed. 1 Friday, February 6, 2004 Page: 4 of 12
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Phone: (254) 675-3336 • Fax: (254) 675-4090
E-mail: nawa@cllftonrecord.com * ada@cllftonrecord.com
Orphan Girl Runs With The Wolves
The Clifton Record
The Clifton Record ONLINE:
http: ■ cllftonrecord com
Friday, Feb. 6, 2004
"A wild man. who scales cliffs
arid speeds through the under-
brush in the fashion of a fictional
Tarzan, has been living in the hilly,
wooded section near Newport,”
newspapers across the Lone Star
State reported on Feb. 9,1933.
Either the story was a hoax or
the subject was just a high-spirited
hennit, because the nature lover
never made it into print again. Not
so for “The Lobo Girl of Devil’s
River,” a mysterious phantom
Texans have been talking and
writing about for a century and a
half
The fantastic tale began ordi-
narily enough in the backwoods of
Georgia. For the two years, trap-
pers John Dent and Will Mario
pooled their pelts and split the pro-
ceeds down the middle. Then in
1833, after falling hard for a moun-
tain maiden, Dent insisted on tak-
ing half of the hides and selling
them himself.
Mario grudgingly let his love-
struck partner have his way, but
brooded over the breakup of their
profitable arrangement. Two
weeks later, he argued with Dent
for the umpteenth time, and the
quarrel escalated into a violent
struggle which ended with the fa-
tal stabbing of Mario.
Given the choice of hanging or
running, John Dent decided to
clear out. Before he fled the state,
the fugitive swore to his beloved
that he would come back for her.
Mollie Fertul patiently waited
for his return, while her parents
prayed she would find someone
else not wanted for murder. On the
This Week
In Texas
History
By Bartee Haile
I
first anniversary of the killing in
April 1834, Mollie went to milk the
cows and vanished into thin air.
But a bloodstained Bowie knife left
in a milk pail, the same weapon
that had ended Will Mario’s life,
positively identified her traveling
companion.
Six months later, Mrs. Pertul
received a puzzling letter with a
Galveston, Texas postmark: “Dear
Mother. The Devil has a river in
Texas that is all his own and it is
made only for those who are
grown. Yours with love, Mollie."
The Pertuls, like most Ameri
cans in those days, knew as much
about the distant land called Texas
as they did the dark side of the
moon. But they were better off not
knowing there really was a Devils
River in the wild western waste-
land of the Mexican province and
that their daughter was living 150
miles from the closest settlement
of any size.
Another piece of news Mollie
kept from her worried parents was
that she was pregnant. She went
into labor on a stormy day in May
1835 and quickly realized it was
going to be a difficult birth.
Through clenched teeth. Mollie
begged John to ride for help.
He reached the goat ranch of
their nearest neighbors that after-
The Clifton Record
Bosque County’s Leading Newspaper
The Clifton Record (USPS-118-100 • ISSN-1086-9352) is published semi-weekly, on
Wednesdays and Fridays, by Progressive Media Communications, Inc., 310 West Fifth Street,
Clifton, Texas 76634-1611. Periodicals postage is paid at Clifton, Texas
SUBSCRIPTION PRICE Bosque County, one year $38, Elsewhere, one year $45. Give old address
when requesting change of address. Per copy price. 50 cents.
POSTMASTER: Please send address change to The Clifton Record. PO Box 353. Clifton, TX 76634
PUBLISHERS
James W. Smith, Publisher Emeritus • W Leon Smith, President
OFFICE HOURS:
EDITORIAL
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BUSINESS
Kay Calvert, Front Office Manager
CIRCULATION
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ASSOCIATION
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DEADLINES:
3 pm. Friday for Wednesday Edition
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2002
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for publication We publish only ongmal letters addressed to The Clifton
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author's identity can be verified No letters will be published-until
authorship is confirmed Those who write letters are asked to limit their
entnes to one per month All letters are subject to editing The Record
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noon and hurriedly explained the
situation to the Mexican husband
and wife. They agreed to accom-
pany him and were saddling their
horses, when lightning struck
John Dent dead.
The Good Samaritans searched
all night for the trapper’s camp
and finally located it early the next
morning. Mollie had died after giv-
ing birth, but there was no sign of
the baby. Wolf tracks led the Mexi-
cans to believe the child had been
carried off and eaten.
Ten years later, a boy at San
Felipe Springs, the Rio Grande
hamlet later renamed Del Rio,
watched a wolf pack devour a herd
of goats. He told his disbelieving
elders that one of wolves was not
an animal at all but a human fe-
male about his own age.
Within the year, a woman saw
the same thing — a naked girl run-
ning on all fours with two wolves.
Residents were not so quick to dis-
miss an adult eyewitness and
started searching the rugged
countryside.
Tv. o hunters trapped the wolf
girl in a canyon. According to an
account in “Straight Texas," a folk-
lore collection published in the
1937, “She cowered at first like a
rabbit. Then she spat and hissed
like a wildcat. She fought, too,
clawing and biting.”
The vaqueros were binding her
hands and feet when a snarling
wolf suddenly came to her aid. A
lueky shot dropped the rescuer in its
tracks, causing the captive to faint.
She regained consciousness in
a small room in a ramshackle
ranch house surrounded by sev-
eral curious men. Rejecting their
offers of food, water, and a blanket,
the girl cowered in a corner until
they left the room, locking the door
behind them.
A few minutes later, she began
to howl, a long mournful sound
that made the vaqueros’ skin
crawl. Off in the distance her call
was answered, at first by a lone
wolf and then by a bloodcurdling
chorus from the largest pack the
nervous Mexicans had ever heard.
Their prisoner responded at
regular intervals, as if giving di-
rections, and the howls grew
louder and closer. When the
wolves seemed to be at the door,
they attacked the corral and tore
into the livestock.
The vaqueros ran outside firing
their pistols at shadows and suc-
ceeded into driving away the pack.
Suddenly remembering their
prize, they rushed back inside to
find that the girl had ripped the
wood plank from the window and
escaped into the night.
“The Lobo Girl of Devil’s River"
was seen one last time .six years
later. Explorers following the
course of the Rio Grande spotted
her on a sandbar with two wolf
pups. “In an instant she was upon
her feet, a whelp under each arm,
dashing into the breaks at a rate
no horse could follow.”
Vol. IV - “Best of This Week in Texas
History” availablefar $10.95 plus $3.25
postage and handling from Bartee
Haile, 1912 Meadow Creek Dr ,
Pearland, TX 77581.
Letters To The Editor
Dear Editor,
I would like to take this oppor-
tunity to thank the West Shore
Community for their over-
whelming support of our chili
supper fund-raiser at the fire
department on Saturday, Jan.
24. Though it was a good chili
day — being damp and rainy —
they came out and. I hope, had a
good time.
Your efforts raised $920 for
the start of our “Fire Truck
Fund.”
I also want to thank the volun-
teers who had it all happen, from
making chili to setting up to serv-
ing to cleaning up after it was
over.
Thank you again for your con-
tinued support of your volunteer
fire department, and your en-
deavors to make it better.
Sincerely,
Lori Howard, Administrator
' Fire Department Support
Group
$ Editorial / Opinions
The Clifton Record
By Our Staff And Our Readers
1904 — Building A Bridge
From the Feb. 5, 1904, of Thf:
Meridian Tribune:
Teacher Institute At Clifton
"The Bosque County Teachers’
Institute held a session at the pub-
lic school building in Clifton last
Saturday. Teachers began to ar-
rive by train on Friday and Friday
night. Others came bv private con-
veyance on Saturday morning.
When T. N. Elliott called the
body to order at 10 o’clock a good
attendance of enthuasiastic took
their seats to her and take part in
the program. Carefully prepared
papers were read and discussion
was entered with zest. We may
summarize the following trend of
opinion: Good literature, classic
and current, should accompany
the whole course.
Ever remember you are dealing
with immature minds. Do not
overshoot capacity. Character
building is as much of education
as the teaching of science. Truth -
noble indeed is the man whose
word is absolutely
reliable.Commence early to train
children to love the truth.”
To Bridge Neils Creek
“A petition is being circulated
asking the county commissioners
to grant the buiiding of a bridge
bridge across Neils Creek on the
Valley Mills and Clifton road.
Bridges have been built at many
places in the county where they
were badly needed, and Neils
Creek should have been bridges
Corrections,
Clarifications
Wallace Misquoted
CLIFTON — In the Wednesday,
Jan. 28. issue of The Cueton
Record, an error was made in the
article “G3S2 Honcho Raises
Awareness, Support For Greater
Good Workers."
It has been brought to the
Record’s attention thatMatt
Wallace’s quote in his outline
should actually read “In Mongolia,
there’s not a CompUSA around
the corner.”
This correction was verified on
Tuesday, Feb. 3.
The Record apologies for any
confusion or harm this error may
have caused.
One Hundred
Years Ago In
rr
V
Bosque County fifj
By Elizabeth Torrence, ]
Bosque County Collection
long ago.
Commissioners' Court meets
next Monday, and it is thought that
the building of the bridge will be
ordered without delay.-Protection-
ist”
A Big Fire
“The dead grass on the lower
pasture of the Curley Ranch in
some manner caught fire Monday
morning and burned several hun-
dred acres of grass before it could
be checked.
A number of persons worked all
Monday night trying to check the
spread of the fire. Many fences
were destroyed and by hard work
the barns and houses were saved.
This was the finest grass in
Bosque County and the loss of
same together with loss of fences,
etc., will amount to considerable.
Those who sustained the great-
est loss are: H C. Odle, J. K. and
Jno. Moore, J R. Hill, N. Jacob
Nelson and Fritz Bertrand.”
“Miss Bell offered a premium to
any pupil in her room who could
make the most words out of
George Washington. Master Buck
Shelton made 1.477 words which
was the most made and received
from his teacher a nice book. Two
other children in Miss Bell’s class
are worthy of honorary mention
namely: Little Miss Nora Easton,
who made 1,300 words and little
Miss Rilla Elliot who made 1,145
words. Walnut Hustler”
“The prohibition committee of
Bosque County met here Wednes-
day and transacted some business.
The main thing which they did was
to prepare and send to the different
localities of the county a petition
asking the commissioners court at
its next session to order a local-op-
tion election for the entire county.”
Ribbon Cutting Slated Next Friday
For New Meridian Public Library
MERIDIAN — The Meridian
Public Library has moved to 118
N. Main Street in Meridian. A rib-
bon-cutting by city officials will be
held at 1 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 13,
to kick off an open house celebra-
tion from 1 p.m. - 5 p.m.
“If you haven't already visited
this newly renovated building,
you’re in for a pleasant surprise,"
said a spokesperson. “It’s much
larger than the original location."
The new library includes new ser-
vice counters and additional shelves,
a reading area and carpeting that
adds to the quiet atmosphere. Be sure
to notice the south wall where natu-
ral rock provides a pleasing effect,
added the spokesperson.
The new library hours are Tues-
day, 1 p.m. - 8 p.m.; Wednesday -
Friday, 1 p.m. - 5 p.m.; and Satur-
day, 10 a m. -12 p.m. The librarian
is Jeannie Perkins.
White To Discuss EMS
Services At AARP Feb. 12
CLIFTON — Emergency medical services will be discussed by
Ms. Joe White at the Bosque County Chapter #2917 of the Ameri-
can Association of Retired Persons on Thursday, Feb. 12.
The program will begin at 11:45 p.m., at the Clifton Civic Center.
“New AARP members are welcome, as well as visitors. Bring a
covered-dish and join us,” said a spokesperson.
The chapter’s new AARP liason, Clyde Attervery, will be at the
meeting.
Avirett Insurance
Agency
All forms of insurance
123 N. Main, Meridian • (254) 435-2342
Open 8:30 - 5:00 • Closed for lunch from 12:30-1:00
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Wallpapering by Katherine
Remodels - New Construction
(15 Years’ Experience)
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Office Located At
County Seat Plaza,
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812 W. 5th St.
Clifton, TX 76634
Off.: (254) 675-8349
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Smith, W. Leon. The Clifton Record (Clifton, Tex.), Vol. 109, No. 11, Ed. 1 Friday, February 6, 2004, newspaper, February 6, 2004; Clifton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth790962/m1/4/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Nellie Pederson Civic Library.